Jones insists Lee still has a part to play for Luton

Mike Simmonds

Hatters boss Nathan Jones has insisted that midfielder Olly Lee still has a part to play despite being substituted once more during the 2-1 defeat against Grimsby Town on Saturday.

Lee was taken off at the interval, with Glen Rea coming off, the second time in three games that Jones has opted to change the holding midfielder, as he had done so against Cambridge United, where Luton went on to win 3-0.

H was a victim of a poor team performance, so it’s not Olly Lee was bad, he let us down, no it wasn’t.

Nathan Jones

However, Jones didn’t blame Lee for the defeat to the Mariners, saying: “We’ve got a good group here, he’ll be disappointed, but maybe that’s my fault, with the game opening up second half, I might have delayed the decision.

“But the thing is we’ve got such a strong group that we’re able to change things early.

“We don’t be patient, we need results, we want to get results, so we change it.

“It worked at Cambridge, it was a key change I felt, Glen came on the other day and scored, but I didn’t want to embarrass the boy or anything.

“He knows certain things he needs to work on, he’s a fantastic pro and he’s trained very, very well this week, and it doesn’t diminish my opinion of him.

“It’s just circumstance and he was a victim of a poor team performance, so it’s not Olly Lee was bad, he let us down, no it wasn’t.

“It’s just in that area I felt I could strengthen it immediately and that’s what we did, it was just a tactical one.

“But he’s an excellent pro and we really like him here, so there’s no problem.”